Before his death, former Apple CEO Steve Jobs stated that he was willing to go "thermonuclear" on Google and the manufacturers that produce devices running Android OS. It appears that current Apple CEO Tim Cook, however, is taking a softer approach on the warfront.

Apple and HTC have been in and out of court for years, battling over smartphone patents. Most recently, Apple lost its bid to ban HTC's One X and EVO 4G LTE over its claim of infringement on a "data tapping" patent. However, both companies announced yesterday that the two companies have reached a settlement on all pending litigation. All current lawsuits are being tossed and the two companies have entered into a ten-year licensing agreement.

Apple CEO Tim Cook [Image Source: David Paul Morris / Bloomberg]

“HTC is pleased to have resolved its dispute with Apple, so HTC can focus on innovation instead of litigation,” said HTC CEO Peter Chou.

“We are glad to have reached a settlement with HTC,” said Apple CEO Tim Cook. “We will continue to stay laser focused on product innovation.”

HTC has also made drastic cuts to its research and development programs while also scaling back its marketing efforts. Perhaps Apple just doesn't see much of a threat from HTC anymore, and was more willing to make a deal.

Apple still has a hard-on for Samsung, so we doubt that the boys from Cupertino will be reaching any licensing agreements with that South Korean electronics giant any time soon.

I would be willing to buy Apple products if the company would change its ways. I'm one of those guys that has actually been "wanting" to buy certain Apple products but I keep telling myself not to because I just can't support a company like Apple with the kind of business practices it uses. That being said, if they stop trying to sue people for stupid reasons, stop telling people they are holding their devices wrong and stop (insert countless other things here), I will start buying Apple products. It might take me awhile to forgive them but ya, I WILL start buying their products. I know their company won't read this rant so I am probably just wasting my time typing this...

I guess you must have your apple blinders on, becuase it would be tough to not see innovation in many products. Many of the things you now use in your ios device was an innovation in android long before Apple invented it.

I know, I know before apple invented them you (and every other apple fanboy) did not need the innovation. Once Apple then invented it, it was awesome and now completely needed.

I can see saying that you don't like certain apps, or don't like having a bigger phone, as those are personal choices, but saying you do not see innovation makes you look like a complete fanboy.

I personally don't own any ios devices, but my wife and several family members do. I see benefits of both, and like seeing new ideas pushed forward. My wife is alot like you, always says my phone is too difficult, and she does not want to see anything change, cause she does not want to learn anything new.

I hope that we see a few more of these agreements (would be nice to see them across the board) so all parties can just make their own devices and compete on price/features instead on in a courtroom. It would be awesome IMO if this was just the first and we see several more come out.

Seems like a silly reason not to buy something. All businesses play dirty pool, Samsung included.

If I based my buying decisions on business practices and ads that I dislike then I wouldn't have any tech gadgets. Microsoft, Sony, Nintendo, Amazon, Apple, none of them.

I don't particularly care for most of Apple's legal action and advertising, but I don't judge products on that, I judge them on their technical and practical merits. The iPhone 5 happens to have the fastest hardware running the best apps with the best battery life (double the LTE browsing time of something like the S3). That's all that really matters to me. The rest is sideshow BS that these multinationals will shake out and for fanboys to yell at each other on forums over.